I'm Still Here
by CallieRoseDixon
Summary: When Athena gets her life back after the gentle and understanding Soul Echo becomes dormant, she couldn't be happier. The only problem she faces is her eyes betray her as a 'Parasite' like the others. When she returns home, she expects a cold welcome, but will she be able to convince Ian she is still alive, and will they be able to see past the illusion? A bit different to the host
1. Dormant

**_Athena's POV_**

I ran as fast as I could through the trees, branches snapping underneath my feet and hitting me in the face simultaneously. I could hear Ian calling my name in the distance, his sweet voice carrying in the wind, making me want to turn back and run into the safety of his arms. But I couldn't, no matter how hard I wanted to.

The Seekers were chasing me, catching up as I stumbled over fallen trees and logs. It had been a normal raid, a normal night of gathering food from the Parasites store; cuddling up to Ian in the back of the truck as we waited for the others to collect everything, until one of the Seekers arrived. Then everything turned to chaos.

One of them had Ian, one was chasing Kyle and the others were hiding, and I knew what I had to do. I smashed a log around one of their infected heads, and ran as fast as I could. Ian took care of himself, but I had 4 Seekers and their 'Friends' coming after me. It wasn't long before I found the woods and ran in the cover of the trees.

I ran faster, my breath catching in my throat, as I tightened my hands around Ian's hoodie that was too big for me. I always found comfort in the too long fabric that fell past my hands. My feet stopped and I gasped as I teetered over the edge of the drop. It was known to us as 'Suicide Drop', where people would go when they'd had enough and had become tired of running.

I didn't want to jump; I didn't want to leave Ian and everyone else. I wanted to see whether or not Melanie had come back, I wanted to see Jared, Jamie and Doc again. But the Seekers were catching up, and I closed my eyes. "I'm sorry" I whispered, and pushed myself over the edge, the face of a Seeker peering over the edge blurring as everything went black.

**_Echo's POV _**

It had been weeks since Athena had spoken to me. I was unsure of where she had gone whether or not she would come back and what she wanted me to do with her memories. She had shown me so much, so many images I would never have seen in another body. I sat at the white table in the Seekers office and looked down at the blank paper in front of me, avoiding eye contact.

"Are you sure there is nothing else?" the Seeker asked, getting agitated that I had no information left. "I'm sure, I will try again tonight, but I'm afraid I seem to have run out of memories" I said, fiddling with my thumbs. It wasn't true, I had plenty of fresh memories implanted into my mind, but they all seemed so emotional I didn't want to share them.

It started off with occasional images of a boy, a tall boy with floppy blonde hair and gorgeous light blue eyes. Then the emotions started to flood in. Athena didn't say much to me, she preferred to show me with her memories. After the occasional images came the flashbacks, quick videos of days spent with the boy, then came his name. Ian. A few weeks later came the inevitable dreams, dreams of what she felt around him, the feelings and emotions settling in the pit of my stomach.

More often than not I would wake up crying, screaming and reaching out for something in front of me, which frightened me. Athena showed me so much of her life, I started to question everything I had been taught throughout my life. "Echo" I heard someone say, and I blinked at the face of the Seeker in front of me. "I'm sorry, I was daydreaming" I said softly, and she looked on at me quizzically. "We need to know about the humans, where they are and where we can find them" she said, and I sighed a little. "I will keep searching" I said, and she nodded, her eyes closed in exasperation.

I smiled a small smile and headed out the door, walking down the steps and grabbing my bag on the way out. I breathed in the fresh summer air and headed for the nearest car I could find. "I have to find Ian" I whispered to myself, hoping that somehow Athena could still hear me. I reached the car and tugged on the handle, muttering as it didn't move.

I walked out into the road and stopped a car that was driving towards me. "Excuse me, would it be possible to borrow your vehicle?" I asked, and the owner stepped out of the car. He nodded once and handed me the keys, and I smiled and got in the drivers seat. "Thank you" I said, and started the car, driving off down the road.

"I wish I could know where we are meant to be going" I whispered, and searched my memories for some kind of a clue. "Why did you leave?" I whispered, looking out at the road ahead of me. It was getting dark, and I pulled over as my eyes filled with tears. "Athena?" I asked, and waited for a reply, for the voice to fill my head again.

"Athena, if you can hear me, wherever you are, I know you've gone. I'm sorry for all of this, I truly am, but I am going to find Ian and the others, and together we can do this. You may have gone from my head, but you will always be in my heart" I said, and I sighed at the silence. Everything suddenly changed, and a dark painful stab hit my head again.

No healer had been able to tell me what was happening, except one. Athena was rebelling, she was coming back. She was strong, so strong I didn't want to fight her. I had seen what she had left behind, what I had taken away from her, and I wanted to give her back. But I knew it wouldn't ever happen the way they did with Souls that were exiled.

I knew I had to become dormant. "Athena, there's only so much I can do" I whispered, laying the chair down and readying myself for what was about to happen. "The eyes won't change, but you will be you again. Like you are wearing contact lenses, or giving off an illusion you are one of , they'll see you as me still, so don't expect them to accept you. They don't know we can do this. It is time I left, time I slept for years. I've been around for far too long, been interrogated for far too long and it's time it stopped" I said, and lay back on the chair.

"Live well" I whispered, and closed my eyes, feeling myself tense up as everything went dark.

**Hello everyone! I watched this movie the other day and I really enjoyed it, so I thought I would write a story for it! :) I am used to writing for the Walking Dead, but I also had an idea for a story for this and thought I would give it a go. It is a little different to the actual book, as Melanie didn't get taken over by Wanda in this story, but the characters are the same with some differences :) I hope you all enjoy my ideas, and let me know what you think of these first two Chapters I am putting up today. **

**I really hope you enjoy this, let me know if you want me to carry on! Sorry if this chapter is a bit quick, but I only wrote it today! Enjoy! Elly xxx**

**_Athena's POV_**

I gasped and sat up. I looked in the mirror at my reflection and smiled – I was back. "Thank you" I whispered, and touched my face where the tears of happiness fell. "It's going to be difficult, isn't it?" I asked, and I smiled back at myself. It felt good to have my body back, to be able to speak and not just be a voice in the back of someone's head.

_Remember, they'll see you as me still, so don't expect them to accept you. They don't know we can do this_. I recalled what had been said as I looked over myself, and the truth sunk in a little – they would still see me as one of them, no matter how hard I tried to convince them. I still had some trouble remembering things, such as faces to put with names, but I knew it would all come back to me.

Just as I was about to start the engine and drive off, I noticed two trucks pull into the Store car park. I frowned and watched from the darkness of the car as four boys got out and walked into the building.

"Jared" I breathed as my eyes set on a familiar face, and I smiled as the memories of everyone flooded back into my head. "Melanie" I said louder as a young girl stood by the truck, sunglasses covering her eyes as she looked from left to right on watch. I opened the car door, the emotions getting the better of me, and headed for the trucks.

Just as I was about to say something, a hard blow hit me on the back of the head and my body fell to the ground in a heap.


	2. Please see me

**Hello guys! Chapter two is up! I hope you enjoy, should have another chapter up soon! Would love feedback on this! Love you all lots, have fun reading!**

**Elly xx**

I whined a little at the pain that radiated throughout my left arm, and I felt arms underneath my body. I was picked up and thrown into the back of the truck with force, making me whimper again. "Tie it up" I heard a muffled voice say, and my arms were pulled behind my back and tied tightly.

"It looked like her" I heard Melanie say, and I listened to the conversation as the truck moved off from the car park. "It isn't her. You know once they get someone, that person is lost forever." a male voice said, and I shuffled closer to the voices to hear them better. "We can't take her back" Melanie said, and the man, who sounded like Jared, sighed. "He'll deal with it" he said.

There was silence for a while, and I let out a whine as we turned the corner and I hit my head sharply on a hard box. "We can't hurt her. He'll want to look after her if we take her in there" Melanie said, and Jared interrupted. "It's not a 'her' anymore. It was the girl we all loved but now, it is a thieving Parasite that should be killed" Jared said, and everything went silent again.

We drove down a bumpy road, one I didn't remember even with the help of the memories. I heard the hum of the other truck behind me, and the engine suddenly turned off. I clung to Ian's hoodie - I had begged Echo to let me wear it, even after all this time. It still made me feel comforted and safe, like it did before.

"Get it out" Jared said darkly, and hands roughly grabbed at me, pulling me out the back of the truck. I stumbled on the floor, now crooked and lumpy under my feet, and the hands yanked me forward. My eyes were covered, I couldn't see where I was going, who I was with or what I was walking on.

"What's this?" I heard a voice ask, a familiar voice, and my heart rate quickened. "A Parasite" Jared said quickly, and another set of hands, much gentler hands, pulled at the binding on my wrists. "We said no more. Does Ian know?" the voice asked. "Jeb, we can't tell him" Jared said, and I searched through my memories for a face to put with the name.

"Jeb..." I whispered, and I felt the hands pull at the binding over my eyes. "What are you doing?" Jared asked, presumably stepping forwards as something crunched underneath his feet. "She needs to see where she is going" Jeb said, and his hands fiddled with the knot again. "What's going on?" I heard a voice say, and my insides sung. "Ian" I whispered, and Jeb's hands stopped moving.

"Ian, we will meet you back inside" Jeb said sternly, and I heard footsteps crunching towards me. "What was all this for?" Ian asked, standing in front of me. I could sense his question was aimed behind me, and my head dropped a little as it did when I was nervous. I knew what was going to happen next, and I didn't think my heart could take it. I rubbed at my wrists where the binding was, and felt Ian's hands touch my forehead.

His fingers gripped the binding and pulled it down. I kept my head down so he couldn't see my eyes, but his finger gently tucked under my chin. _Please, see that it's still me. See that I haven't changed_ I begged in my head, and my eyes closed as my head was pulled up higher. "Open" Ian said softly, and I sniffed and sighed shakily.

I opened my eyes, and grief washed over me as his face sunk. His hand gently touched my cheek, and for a moment I thought he saw through the illusion. I was jolted out of my thought as a sharp slap sent me toppling, and I looked up at Ian with desperation. "That's enough" Jeb said, and hooked a hand underneath my arm. "We'll keep her inside" he said, and pulled me towards the path, wrapping the bindings back over my eyes.

"Please know, I'm still in here" I whispered softly, so no one could hear me. I breathed in a musky smell, damp but comforting. My bindings were taken off and I looked ahead of me, gripping on to Jeb's arm as my eyes fell on the people who had escaped the Souls. Kyle was standing ahead of me, and his eyes caught with mine in anger and fury.

I gripped harder onto Jeb's arm as he came storming up to me, and the back of his fist came into painful contact with the side of my face. I fell to the floor again, not bothering to get up, and my eyes fell on Jamie's. He was such a sweet boy, so young but so mature, and I looked at him happily. He walked over to me, pulling away from Jared's hand which tried to pull him back, and he held one hand out in front of me.

I took it and stood up gently, brushing myself down. "Thank you" I said softly, reaching out and fiddling with his ear lobe. It was something I did sub-consciously, and I heard a few gasps around me as I did so. Jamie looked on at me puzzled, and I stopped and buried my hand back in Ian's hoodie. "Kyle" Jeb said in a warning tone, and I looked next to me as Kyle was held back by Jeb's arm. "We get rid of it" Kyle said, and Jeb sighed.

"It's up to Ian what happens to her" Jeb said, and everyone looked at Ian. I could see on his face he didn't want anything to happen to me, and it settled my stomach a little. "We keep it in a cell. Until everyone can decide what to do" Ian said, and I looked down at the floor, twiddling my hair in my fingers.

"Okay then" Jeb said, and pushed his hand on the small of my back, leading me away from the group. My eyes caught Ian's as he watched me walk past, and he followed behind us. "If you need anything let me know" Jeb said, and I smiled lightly. "Thank you" I whispered, and sighed as I looked around the dark concrete room that would be my cell.


End file.
